An 18-year-old female ringleader of a violent, drug-fuelled prostitution racket has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison.

Kailey Oliver-Machado, who was just 15 when she was arrested in June 2012, was handed down the sentence in Ottawa, Canada yesterday after being found guilty on 27 counts that included human trafficking, sexual assault and making and holding child pornography.

She was initially arrested for taking photographs of naked teens and blackmailing them into prostitution along with two other teens with a total count of 74 charges.

Oliver-Machado led a "sophisticated and well-organized human trafficking enterprise" in the Canadian capital, said judge Diane Lahaie on Tuesday.

Ms Lahaie said she decided to try Oliver-Machado as an adult to properly reflect the seriousness of her crimes.

The teen prostitution operation saw girls as young as 13 lured through social media sites to a home in Ottawa, where they would then be encouraged or plied with drugs and served up to adult clients.

The victims ranged in age from 13 to 17. The trial, which began in April 2013, previously heard from a number of teens who had been forced to perform sex acts.

In one example, a 13-year-old was dropped off at a home for what she thought was a sleepover but returned the following day in make-up, heels and a trenchcoat that did not belong to her.

Another teen described how Oliver-Machado snapped photos of her naked in a bathtub when she was too drunk to move.

Two of Oliver-Machado's accomplices have also appeared in court - one has been jailed for three years while the other awaits a sentence following a psychological assessment.

Oliver-Machado was the only one to have pleaded not guilty but the court delivered a guilty verdict in January.

Having already served some time in custody, Oliver-Machado will be released in a little under three years.